No captain, no goals, no points, no chance of the title. Dispensing with their loudly critical leader on the field helped Arsenal's cause not one iota here. William Gallas remained in the home counties, but his words of criticism were physically embodied in his team-mates at the City of Manchester Stadium.

One of the youngest teams Arsène Wenger has ever used in a Premier League match looked out of their depth, disjointed and unready for the fight. Meekly succumbing to a Manchester City side with a fine internal crisis of its own simply confirmed the concerns - defensive error compacting on defensive error as Stephen Ireland, Robinho and Daniel Sturridge delivered a rare home win.

Perhaps more worrying, Wenger ducked the obvious problems; a man who usually takes on any question refusing even to discuss Gallas's exile from the squad. 'Nothing was disturbing before the game. We had a good focus, we were well concentrated,' he said. 'I believe it is a flattering victory for Man City.

'We gave everything. It is not as negative as it will come out tomorrow and we have to take that positive and keep the belief. In a strong club, you have to sometimes go through that period and it is how well we deal with that situation that will make our future.'

Mark Hughes offered a more accurate assessment: 'That is only the second time we've been able to beat Arsenal in the Premier League,' he said. 'It is a significant victory for us and we were good value. We've had to put up with difficult weeks all year. You can only go up against the opposition that's set up before you.'

Harsh is the life of the modern Premier League manager. Having stood by his captain through on-field sit-downs and no end of criticism of his defending, Wenger had to endure Gallas cataloguing his team-mates' lack of respect, confidence and sense of perspective - oh, and all but name Emmanuel Eboué and Samir Nasri as troublemakers-in-chief.

For Hughes there was the quandary posed by Elano's vocal discontent at losing his starting place. Not a smart move to slap down Robinho's best mate when the owner had sunk unprecedented millions into the Brazilian, yet the manager could ill afford to leave his authority undefended.

Undefended is a term that could be applied to City's nets of late. With one win in eight Premier League fixtures and at least two goals conceded in 10 of their preceding 11 games, Hughes has been fretting about his side's inability to play the 'hard, pressing, physical game' his Blackburn team had thrived on.

What ensued was a grim first half, short on quality and opportunities for either side. An uncomplicated Benjani charge drew an unconvincing challenge from Johan Djourou, allowing the African to slip possession to Pablo Zabaleta. The right-back aimed for the penalty area, Gaël Clichy sliced the ball against Mikaël Silvestre and to Ireland, who gambolled on and chipped the keeper.

Eleven minutes into the second half, Wright-Phillips caught Robin van Persie idling in possession and streamed into the counterattack. A well-timed pass released Robinho on to Almunia and a gorgeously judged lob doubled the score. Well might Robinho have told the matchday programme: 'I believe my technical ability comes from God.' Pointedly, the striker sent a message to manager and Arab owner by calling Elano from the bench to celebrate it.

An habitual practice of late, that embrace should soon have been swiftly repeated - Robinho unfortunate to see a darting run and diving header skim wide of a post before a linesman's flag incorrectly canceled out a cheekily backheeled finish. Hughes took the sensible option and brought Elano on to raucous cheers.

Wenger had already started ringing the changes, throwing in Aaron Ramsey and Carlos Vela. Nicklas Bendtner's shot was well saved by Joe Hart, Van Persie ballooned over, then was picked up for a 'George Best' steal from the keeper's hands.

The best the fates could manage was to take Robinho out of the game with an ankle injury, sustained as the forward rounded Almunia and tried to finish a sweet Elano through ball. As the whistle neared, Djourou needlessly hauled down Daniel Sturridge at the byline for a penalty the substitute happily converted. Arsenal's day, like their season, had gone from from bad to worse.